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Custom Miniature Minimalist Picture Frame

You. You have a picture laying around. It's an odd size. It has much sentiment attached to it...it could be a portrait of a long-lost love...or a rendering of someone (or some...thing) you've only dreamed of.

You'd tack it on your fridge, but magnets are so passé. You have standards. Maybe you live in a minimalist highrise overlooking the twinkling horizon of Shanghai, and only the best will do. Or maybe you live in a transparent future-submarine, zipping around the Mariana trench, where opaque decorations are silly & verboten. Well, have I got just the project for you.

Step 1: Gather Your Materials & Tools

You will need:

Materials Photograph Clear Acrylic (3mm thick)

Tools Ruler Adobe Illustrator Laser Cutter Plastic Strip Heater

Step 2: Measure the Picture You Want to Frame

Break out your ruler(s) & measure away. You only need 1 ruler, but I used 2. Why? Cuz YOLO.

Bend Guides We know the total size of the rectangle will be 199mm x 49mm. Now add light raster lines where you will be bending the plastic.

Things to Watch out for: -Leave some clearance in the frame for the picture to slide in between the sandwiched pieces of acrylic. If you make the back piece too long, it will bump into the base & be difficult to open.

Step 4: Use the File to Cut Acrylic in Laser Cutter

Using the file we just made...laser away! The laser will cut and engrave the acrylic to perfection.

Isn't she a beaut? Look at the magical clean lines lasers make. It's truly beautiful, like a Neptunian sun gleaming on the iridescent skin of a lizard-human hybrid. Or...you know...beautiful like a flower or something.

In the future, everyone will have a laser, I just know it.

If I had a laser to call my own, I would create new decor that could turn any house into a super-future mod plexiglass palace. As a self-employed lady, lasers are indispensable to my business - they're immensely practical, and infinitely cool.

Now, on to the 3-dimensional portion of our tutorial...

Step 5: Bend the Acrylic With the Plastic Strip Heater

Place the acrylic on the strip heater at the first engraved line (the one that turns 2 pieces into an acrylic sandwich).

Cool the acrylic by blowing it with the airline. This will help it retain its shape (faster than just waiting for it to cool).

Things to Watch out for:-Don’t leave the acrylic on the heater too long, or it will bubble and turn brown...or worse - melt into the machine. Keep checking to see if it’s ready to bend.

Step 6: Bend the Base.

Place the frame on the strip heater, aiming to warm the area between the lower 2 engraved lines. When it's ready, bend into shape, by sight, or by placing it against a tool to keep the acrylic at a certain angle.

Cool the bent area by blowing it with the airline...and...

Boom! Frame!

Things to Watch Out For: -Don’t bend the angle of the frame back too far, or it will become off balance, or the top acrylic pieces may bump into the base, not giving enough space for the picture to slide in.

Step 7: Slip in the Photo. Rejoice.

Now, slip in your photo. Congratulations, you are from the future.

This was made at TechShop, a place where unicorns frolic, angels sing, and dreams come true.

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16 Discussions

Very snazzy, but I wonder if one could make it with more ordinary tools which the ordinary hobbyist has access to? Maybe cut the acrylic with a fine saw and buff the cutting marks away, and using a more common heat source for the bendy stuff?

Thank you for sharing , to bend acrylic with a laser cutter you can use the same technique on the following link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arjRtCjI9AQ The full documentation on the this link: http://stefaniemueller.org/laserorigami-lasercutting-3d-objects/

Thanks mikeasaurus! Woah yes - I've seen a video where they use the laser to make bends ("laser origami", I believe?), but I haven't seen documentation on how to actually put it into practice...would love to try it out! ^__^